The European Union has decided to hold off on imposing retaliatory tariffs on U.S. goods that were set to begin Monday.

The European Union has finalized a second list of countermeasures to target U.S. goods worth $84 billion, including Boeing Co. aircraft, automobiles and bourbon, if it decides to retaliate against Donald Trump's tariff policy.

The EU – the United States' biggest trading partner – had been scheduled to impose "countermeasures" starting Monday at midnight in Brussels

Despite early criticism that his approach to trade was erratic, senior officials now say the strategy is yielding stronger negotiating positions.

The European Union will suspend retaliatory tariffs on U.S. goods scheduled to take effect Monday in hopes of reaching a trade deal with the Trump administration by the end of the month.

BRUSSELS - The European Union said on Sunday it would extend its suspension of countermeasures to U.S. tariffs until early August and continue to press for a negotiated settlement, after U.S. President Donald Trump ratcheted up his trade war on the bloc.

Trump’s renewed focus on tariffs has provided a difficult backdrop for attempts to reach an outline agreement between the EU and the US, which would provide the basis for future talks. It would also, for now at least, remove the threat of a wider transatlantic trade war.